State District Judge Ruben Guerrero said he believes a jury of six impartial people can be found in Harris County. The three are charged with misdemeanors for official oppression.

Andrew Blomberg was acquitted in May of any wrongdoing in the March 24, 2010 mid-afternoon beating that was caught on tape by surveillance cameras at a southwest Houston business. Holley was later convicted of burglary in that case. He was arrested last month, accused of a different burglary.

Lawyers for the former officers said they were disappointed by the ruling.

"We're nervous because the mayor, the chief of police and, to an extent, the district attorney have said they don't have confidence in the first verdict," said Joe Owmby, an attorney for Hassan. "They have 'educated' jurors that a 'correct' result should have been the other way."

Harris County District Attorney Pat Lykos and Mayor Annise Parker both publicly disagreed with the verdict in Blomberg's trial.

HPD Chief Charles McClelland fired the officers and said they should have been indicted on more serious charges.

Owmby said he hopes the six months until the next trial would lessen the effect of the publicity surrounding the beating and the verdict in Blomberg's trial.

"Time tends to mitigate some of the effects we were talking about," Owmby said. Hassan is scheduled for trial Jan. 28.

Blomberg, Ryser, Bryan and Hassan were indicted for official oppression. Bryan and Hassan also were charged with violating the civil rights of a prisoner. Both charges are class A misdemeanors, punishable by a year in jail.

'It's the unknown'

Because the charges are misdemeanors, the jury will be six people, not 12.

"It's not the number, it's the unknown - it's whether people are forthcoming, whether they have an agenda," said Aaron Suder, an attorney for the Houston Police Officers Union, representing Bryan.

"It could be six, it could be 26 and you still have the same concern that you don't know what you're going to get."